


Two Years and Lifetime

by carolion



Category: American Idol RPF
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 06:18:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3681177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolion/pseuds/carolion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David Cook hasn't seen Archie since before he left on his two year mission, and neither of them are the same anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Years and Lifetime

**Author's Note:**

> In honor of Archie being back from his mission for ONE YEAR! I present to you the fic I wrote ONE YEAR! ago. HAHA. Um, I just made up a name for Cook's girlfriend, I try really hard to stay out of too much personal stuff when I write RPF. So I just included a fake person to represent the real one. :) Also, guys I will be trying to unearth, clean up, and post a lot of my fic that I have kept from y'all. YOU DESERVE IT. MWAH. Love you.

David doesn't know why he's nervous. It's stupid to be nervous, he should be excited, but he can't deny that the butterflies rattling in his gut aren't just from anticipation. He clutches Marsha's hand a little tighter, and tries to keep his steps normally paced, finding that he wants to lean forward and rush their stride. David spares her a glance, and she looks at him a little oddly, a small quizzical smile sent his way.

"Your palms are getting sweaty," she says, not quite a question. 

David suddenly wants to drop her hand and wipe his palms on his jeans, feeling vulnerable under her gaze. He fights the urge, and crams his free hand into his hoodie pocket. 

"It's getting a little warm," he tries, but it would have been clear to anyone that he's lying. "Just pre-show jitters," he assures her when her eyebrows raise. But Marsha knows him too well for that. He forgets, sometimes, that she knows his bullshit as well as his truths.

"It's okay to be anxious Dave, I mean, you haven't seen him in two years."

_More_ , David thinks to himself, and swallows the lump in his throat. 

He shouldn't be this nervous. He shouldn't even care this much. He hadn't spoken to Archie much before he'd left, and not at all while he had been gone on his mission. They just drifted apart - they were on different paths, as Archie had put it at their last awkward, but fond goodbye. They could be completely different people now - with even less in common than the little bit they had shared before. It scares the shit out of David. 

And yet somewhere in this building David Archuleta is waiting patiently for him. 

The walk that has seemed to take so long shortened drastically right in front of David's eyes, and he's opening a door to a backstage room and he's looking at a kid who - who looks exactly like the kid who left, the kid who smiled and won the world over when he was just sixteen. 

"Archie," David breathes, and Archie laughs because that's what Archie does, and before he can even count to three they're hugging, tight as can be. He doesn't remember letting go of Marsha's hand, only that he can feel his sweaty palms grabbing a fistful of Archie's fitted button-up shirt as he clings to him.

It takes all of his willpower not to bury his face in Archie's neck. But at least he can feel that Archie is hugging him back, just as tightly. 

"It's so good to see you," he says as they pull away, but he can't quite let go, letting his hands rest on Archie's shoulders as if fencing out the rest of the world and creating a box for just the two of them. 

"It's good to see you too Cook," Archie says, and his voice sounds lower! Could it be lower? His face is soft and smiling, so fond and David feels like he's unraveling. 

Archie's eyes shift up and grow a little impish, a little wicked. 

"Nice haircut."

David lets go, finally, to run a hand through his trendy haircut, smiling wryly at Archie's subtle jab. 

"Gotta keep up with the kids, you know. Like you. Besides, you've got a shear going on there. You joining the military now?" It's a weak retort and Archie knows it. 

"It's too hot in Chilé to have long hair." His voice lilts naturally on the word _Chilé_ , the whisper of an accent in his breath. It's fascinating to David.

He's not any taller. He doesn't look any different. His hugs are better, but the affection is the same and yet - and yet David can feel there's something profoundly different about this Archie to the kid he knew way back when. 

Marsha coughs, delicately, and David realizes he's been impolite. Some part of him thinks he should care, but he doesn't. Still, he knows that Archie will care, so he steps away and puts a hand on Marsha's lower back, ushering her into the intimate space he had created with Archie. It feels like a violation, but that's all in his head. Their relationship cannot be the same isolated dependence it used to be. 

"Archie, this is my beautiful, wonderful, stupendous girlfriend Marsha Stacks. Marsha, meet the boy wonder - David Archuleta."

It's a strange moment for David, watching his past and present collide. The two smile broadly and shake hands and Marsha makes a small comment that makes Archie laugh. David can't focus - he's thinking about how he's never known a person who didn't love Archie as soon as they met him. Marsha surely would be no different - a relief, because if she did differ it meant that he was dating the Devil, possibly. 

She's not the Devil. She's lovely actually, and proves this to David by stepping away, out of the sacred space and clasping her hands together. 

"I'm sure you two have a lot of catching up to do. David, I'll come by when it's time to get ready." 

She leans in to kiss him on the cheek, and before he can grab her to kiss her properly, she's gone. It's a blessing. 

Archie's expression is odd. He's - bemused. 

"She knows how to handle you, huh?" He comments, smirking.

It's so true that David can't help but bust out laughing. No one could make laugh like Archie did - something about that 'dry wit' coming from that youthful face - it always got him. 

"Oh," Archie sighs, "I missed your laugh." 

David's laugh dries up a lump forming suddenly in his throat. There were not words to describe what he missed about Archie, so he simply pulled him in for another hug, and held him. 

There were not words to describe what it felt like to share so many highs and lows with one person. There were not words to explain the bond that formed so naturally between two such different people. There were not words for how much David loved him. How much he continues to love him. 

"I missed you too," David says softly and finds, in retrograde, that it's true. That was true through those years that he was gone, but David never thought about it. Guilt makes his words bubble up — "Arch, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't—"

Archie interrupts, pulling away.

"Are you happy?" 

It's such an Archie question. David blinks, and thinks for a moment; is he happy? 

"Yeah," he nods, "I am. I am happy." 

He's happier now than he has been a long time, actually. He has the freedom the breathe, the freedom to write, the freedom to live and play music, and creative control and his own agency...he is happy. Surrounded by family, friends, fans and music, he is happy. 

"Are - are you happy?" David ventures.

Archie's expression is - breathtaking. He glows. 

"I am so happy." 

It's the truest thing David's heard all night. He can see it in every fibre of Archie's being. His smile is wider than ever, and his eyes are so joyful that it pierces David's soul. He's so - peaceful. 

It's a stark contrast from the person David used to know. He had thought Archie was a happy kid then, but now, seeing this true joy he can tell - Archie had never felt this way before. 

A flash of dark consciousness passes through David's mind, and he blurts out the question before he thinks better of it. 

"Did I fuck you up Archie?"

Did he? Did he have anything to do with preventing this pure joy from springing up sooner? David can remember hot, sticky summer nights on the Idol tour, when privacy was a luxury and every moment to themselves was more valuable than anything else. He can remember touching Archie - first teasing, then with purpose, fingers and hands and then lips - tasting sweat on Archie's neck, clinging to his shoulders after shows, feeling like his entire world rested in Archie's guileless gaze. 

It was obsession. He recognizes it now. And the guilt seeps deep, because he never thought - Archie was only just a kid really - and David had stolen those moments in desperation, reaching for that soul-deep connection he'd felt with Archie, twisting it, perverting it - but it never felt that way! It always felt right, always sweet, always perfect. Only now, looking back, David thinks - maybe he fucked Archie up. Maybe he fucked up big time. 

He feels frozen in time and he's afraid to look at Archie's face, to see - what? Sadness? Pity? Anger? 

"Cook," Archie's voice is gentle. "Look at me." 

He's afraid to - but he does. And Archie's warm smile greets him, looking embarrassed but - fine. Kind. His cheeks are flushed pink and David feels a pang of want, one that hadn't bothered him for a long, long time. He always flushed so easily. 

"I'm fine. You didn't - it wasn't your fault. I wanted - I needed you then. We needed each other. You helped me so much." Archie looks so sincere, so genuine, and his words are like a blessing. A blessing to let go of the fear and the worry that David had been holding onto. Archie grabs onto one of David's sweaty, clammy palms and squeezes tightly, looking directly into his eyes, "I don't regret anything. I love you Cook, I always have."

He can feel his emotion gathering in his throat, tears springing to his eyes. He always did cry easily.

Archie embraces him, pulls him in close, and just waits. He hums a little and Cook lets himself listen, with his heart arching, to the tune. 

"We're okay Cook," Archie murmurs, not changing, just staying right there, consistent, steady, strong. "We're gonna be okay."

They were. Different, separate, never again like they used to be - but okay. Maybe even for the better.


End file.
